Multidirectional push and pull drawer

ABSTRACT

A multidirectional push and pull drawer includes a supporting unit, sliding unit, and carrying basket. The sliding unit is disposed on the supporting unit, and can be pulled leftward to move away from the supporting unit and pushed rightward to get closer to the supporting unit. The carrying basket is disposed on the sliding unit, and can be moved relative to the supporting unit and the sliding unit, pulled forward to move away from the supporting unit, and pushed backward to get closer to the supporting unit whenever the sliding unit lies above the supporting unit. The carrying basket can be pulled to move away from the supporting unit together with the sliding unit whenever the sliding unit is outside the supporting unit. Hence, the carrying basket can be moved away from the supporting unit in any of two directions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to drawers, and more particularly, to a drawer with a carrying basket capable of being pulled and pushed in a multidirectional manner.

2. Description of Related Art

U.S. design Pat. D660,088, D659,482, and D659,481 each disclose a drawer, but baskets of the drawers can only be pulled and pushed in a unidirectional manner. As a result, the baskets of the drawers cannot be pulled in two directions.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A multidirectional push and pull drawer of the present invention comprises a supporting unit, a sliding unit, and a carrying basket. The supporting unit has a front side, a rear side, a left side, and a right side. The sliding unit is disposed on the supporting unit. The sliding unit can be pulled leftward out of the supporting unit and pushed rightward into the supporting unit. The carrying basket is slidably disposed on the sliding unit. When the sliding unit is inside the supporting unit, the carrying basket is movable relative to the supporting unit and the sliding unit and thus can be pulled forward to get closer to the supporting unit and pushed backward to move farther away from the supporting unit. When the sliding unit is outside the supporting unit, the carrying basket can be pulled to move farther away from the supporting unit together with the sliding unit. hence, the carrying basket can be pulled in one of the two directions to move farther away from the supporting unit to thereby allow the carrying basket to be pulled in different directions.

In particular, the supporting unit has left and right rods and front and rear guide rails. The front and rear guide rails are fixed to the left and right rods and adapted to underpin the sliding unit. The sliding unit has two first engaging portions and left and right guide rails. The two first engaging portions are positioned proximate to the right side of the sliding unit and engaged with the front and rear guide rails. The left and right guide rails underpin the carrying basket. The left and right rods stop the two first engaging portions of the sliding unit. The carrying basket has a body and two second engaging portions. The two second engaging portions are connected to the body, positioned proximate to the rear side of the body, and engaged with the left and right guide rails of the sliding unit. Given the aforesaid simple structures, the carrying basket can be pulled out in one of two different directions.

The carrying basket has at least one lug. The at least one lug is connected to the front side of the body and engaged with the sliding unit to prevent the carrying basket from being lifted. Hence, the carrying basket can separate from the sliding unit only if it is pulled forward to move farther away from the supporting unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multidirectional push and pull drawer according to a preferred specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the multidirectional push and pull drawer according to the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a carrying basket shown in FIG. 2 and turned upside down according to the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are cross-sectional views of the multidirectional push and pull drawer according to the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the multidirectional push and pull drawer pulled forward according to the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the multidirectional push and pull drawer pulled leftward according to the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention provides a multidirectional push and pull drawer 10 comprising a supporting unit 20, a sliding unit 30, and a carrying basket 40. The supporting unit 20 underpins the sliding unit 30 and the carrying basket 40. The sliding unit 30 is disposed between the supporting unit 20 and the carrying basket 40. The supporting unit 20 is equipped with a cover board 50. The cover board 50 is made of glass, wood, wire mesh, plastic, or any other appropriate material. Since the cover board 50 is not an essential technical feature of the present invention, the cover board 50 is shown only in FIG. 1 but is omitted from FIGS. 2, 3, 6 and 7.

Referring to FIG. 2, the supporting unit 20 has left and right rods 201, 202 as well as front and rear guide rails 203, 204. The front and rear guide rails 203, 204 are fixed to the left and right rods 201, 202 and adapted to underpin the sliding unit 30.

Referring to FIG. 2, the sliding unit 30 has a ring 301, two first engaging portions 302, 303, and left and right guide rails 304, 305. The two first engaging portions 302, 302 are connected to the ring 301, disposed beneath the ring 301, and positioned proximate to one side of the sliding unit 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the two first engaging portions 302, 302 are positioned proximate to the right side of the sliding unit 30. The left and right guide rails 304, 305 are connected to the ring 301 and disposed on the ring 301. In this embodiment, the first engaging portions 302, 303 each have a long straight section 306, a short straight section 307, a curved section 308 which bends downward, and a ball 309. The long straight section 306 and the short straight section 307 are welded to the ring 301 and positioned on the left and right sides of the ring 301, respectively. The long straight section 306 and the short straight section 307 extend to form the curved section 308. The curved section 308 is positioned between the long straight section 306 and the short straight section 307. The ball 309 is welded to the curved section 308 and disposed beneath the curved section 308.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the carrying basket 40 has a body 401, two second engaging portions 402, 403, and two lugs 404, 405. The two second engaging portions 402, 403 are connected to the bottom of the body 401 and positioned proximate to the rear side of the body 401. The two lugs 404, 405 are connected to the front side of the body 401. In practice, the top of the body 401 has a storage space, whereas the body 401 is made from a mesh or made of wood, iron, or plastic. The second engaging portions 402, 403 each have a long straight section 406, a short straight section 407, a curved section 408 which bends downward, and a ball 409. The long straight section 406 and the short straight section 407 are welded to the body 401 and disposed on the front and rear sides of the body 401. The long straight section 406 and the short straight section 407 extend to form the curved section 408. The curved section 408 is disposed between the long straight section 406 and the short straight section 407. The ball 409 is welded to the curved section 408 and disposed beneath the curved section 408. Since the carrying basket 40 in FIG. 2 is shown upside down in FIG. 3, the bottom of the carrying basket 40 in FIG. 3 faces upward, such that the curved section 408 in FIG. 3 bends upward, whereas the ball 409 is positioned on the curved section 408. The two first engaging portions 302, 303 are structurally identical to the two second engaging portions 402, 403.

Referring to FIG. 4, the two first engaging portions 302, 303 of the sliding unit 30 engage the front and rear guide rails 203, 204 of the supporting unit 20, respectively. The ring 301 of the sliding unit 30 rests on the front and rear guide rails 203, 204 of the supporting unit 20. The two first engaging portions 302, 303 are positioned inside the front and rear guide rails 203, 204, respectively. The balls 309 of the two first engaging portions 302, 303 are positioned beneath the front and rear side rails 203, 204, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 5, the two second engaging portions 402, 403 of the carrying basket 40 engage the left and right guide rails 304, 305 of the sliding unit 30, respectively. The bottom of the carrying basket 40 rests on the left and right guide rails 304, 305 of the sliding unit 30. The two second engaging portions 402, 403 are disposed outside the left and right guide rails 304, 305, respectively. The halls 409 of the two second engaging portions 402, 403 are positioned beneath the left and right guide rails 304, 305, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 6, due to the aforesaid structures of the multidirectional push and pull drawer of the present invention, the sliding unit 30 still lies on the supporting unit 20 after the carrying basket 40 has been pulled forward to move farther away from the supporting unit 20. As soon as the carrying basket 40 reaches its frontmost limit, the curved sections 408 of the two second engaging portions 402, 403 abut against the ring 301 of the sliding unit 30 and thereby are stopped, and in consequence the carrying basket 40 is unlikely to separate from the supporting unit 20.

Referring to FIG. 7, the sliding unit 30 is pulled leftward to move farther away from the supporting unit 20 simultaneously, while the carrying basket 40 is pulled leftward to move farther away from the supporting unit 20. The lugs 404, 405 of the carrying basket 40 engage the sliding unit 30 to thereby prevent the carrying basket 40 from being lifted. As soon as the cam/Mg basket 40 is pulled to reach its leftmost limit, the curved sections 308 of the two first engaging portions 302, 303 are stopped by the left rods 201 of the supporting unit 20, thereby preventing the sliding unit 30 and the carrying basket 40 from separating from the supporting unit 20.

In this preferred embodiment, left and right rods as ell as front and rear guide rails of the supporting unit and the sliding unit can also be disposed above the carrying basket, and thus the present invention is not necessarily limited to this preferred embodiment. The structure of the two first engaging portions is the same as that of the two second engaging portions. In practice, the first and second engaging portions can be of any other structure, provided that it is feasible to pull the carrying basket forward and leftward.

The purpose of the lugs 404, 405 of the carrying basket 40 is to prevent the carrying basket 40 from being lifted. If this purpose is not required, the two lugs 404, 405 can be dispensed with. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A multidirectional push and pull drawer, comprising: a supporting unit having a front side, a rear side, a left side, and a right side; a sliding unit slidably disposed on the supporting unit, wherein the sliding unit can be pulled leftward to move farther away from the supporting unit and pushed rightward to get loser to the supporting unit; and a currying basket slidably disposed on the sliding unit, wherein the carrying basket can be moved relative to the supporting unit and the sliding unit, pulled forward to move farther away from the supporting unit, and pushed backward to get closer to the supporting unit whenever the sliding unit is inside the supporting unit, the carrying basket be capable of pulled to move farther away from the supporting unit together with the sliding unit whenever the sliding unit is outside the supporting unit.
 2. The multidirectional push and pull drawer of claim 1, wherein the supporting unit has left and right rods and front and rear guide rails, the front and rear guide rails being fixed to the left and right rods and adapted to underpin the sliding unit, the sliding unit having two first engaging portions and left and right guide rails, the two first engaging portions being positioned proximate to a right side of the sliding unit and engaged with the front and rear guide rails, the left and right guide rails underpinning the carrying basket, wherein the left and right rods stop the two first engaging portions of the sliding unit, and the carrying basket has a body and two second engaging portions, the two second engaging portions being connected to the body, positioned proximate to a rear side of the body, and engaged with the left and right, guide rails of the sliding unit.
 3. The multidirectional push and pull drawer of claim 2, wherein the sliding unit further comprises a ring, wherein the two first engaging portions are connected to the ring and disposed thereunder, the left and right guide rails be connected to the ring and disposed thereon, the ring stops the two first engaging portions of the carrying basket.
 4. The multidirectional push and pull drawer of claim 3, wherein the first engaging portions each have a long straight section, a short straight section, a curved section, and a ball, the long and short straight sections of the first engaging portion being connected to left and right sides of the ring of the sliding unit, respectively, the curved section of the first engaging portion being positioned between the long and short straight sections of the first engaging portion, and the ball of the first engaging portion being connected to the curved section of the first engaging portion; wherein the second engaging portions each have a long straight section, a short straight section, a curved section, and a ball, the long and short straight sections being connected to front and rear sides of the body, respectively, the curved section of the second engaging portion being positioned the long and short straight sections of the second engaging portion, and the ball of the second engaging portion being connected to the curved section of the second engaging portion.
 5. The multidirectional push and pull drawer of claim 4, wherein the carrying basket has at least one lug connected to a front side of the body, engaged with the sliding unit, and disengaged from the sliding unit as soon as the carrying basket is pulled forward to move farther away from the supporting unit.
 6. The multidirectional push and pull drawer of claim 2, wherein the carrying basket has at least one lug connected to a front side of the body, engaged with the sliding unit, and disengaged from the sliding unit as soon as the carrying basket is pulled forward to move farther away from the supporting unit. 